Independent component analysis applied to raman spectra for classification of in vitro human coronary arteries

Optical diagnostic methods, such as near-infrared Raman spectroscopy allow quantification and evaluation of human affecting diseases, which could be useful in identifying and diagnosing atherosclerosis in coronary arteries. The goal of the present work is to apply Independent Component Analysis (ICA) for data reduction and feature extraction of Raman spectra and to perform the Mahalanobis distance for group classification according to histopathology, obtaining feasible diagnostic information to detect atheromatous plaque. An 830nm Ti:sapphire laser pumped by an argon laser provides near-infrared excitation. A spectrograph disperses light scattered from arterial tissues over a liquid-nitrogen cooled CCD to detect the Raman spectra. A total of 111 spectra from arterial fragments were utilized.

Classification model based on Raman spectra of selected morphological and biochemical tissue constituents for identification of atherosclerosis in human coronary arteries

This study presents the results of Raman spectroscopy applied to the classification of arterial tissue based on a simplified model using basal morphological and biochemical information extracted from the Raman spectra of arteries. The Raman spectrograph uses an 830-nm diode laser, imaging spectrograph, and a CCD camera. A total of 111 Raman spectra from arterial fragments were used to develop the model, and those spectra were compared to the spectra of collagen, fat cells, smooth muscle cells, calcification, and cholesterol in a linear fit model. Non-atherosclerotic (NA), fatty and fibrous-fatty atherosclerotic plaques (A) and calcified (C) arteries exhibited different spectral signatures related to different morphological structures presented in each tissue type. Discriminant analysis based on Mahalanobis distance was employed to classify the tissue type with respect to the relative intensity of each compound. This model was subsequently tested prospectively in a set of 55 spectra. The simplified diagnostic model showed that cholesterol, collagen, and adipocytes were the tissue constituents that gave the best classification capability and that those changes were correlated to histopathology. The simplified model, using spectra obtained from a few tissue morphological and biochemical constituents, showed feasibility by using a small amount of variables, easily extracted from gross samples.

Impact of Cytomegalovirus Infection in Lung Transplant Patients Under Universal Prophylaxis: Single-Center Experience in Brazil

Introduction. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection, a common complication in lung transplant (LT) patients, is associated with worse outcomes. Therefore, prophylaxis and surveillance with preemptive treatment is recommended. Objectives. Describe the epidemiology and impact on mortality of CMV infection in LT patients receiving CMV prophylaxis. Methods. Single-center retrospective cohort of LT recipients from August 2003 to March 2008. We excluded patients with survival or follow-up shorter than 30 days. We reviewed medical charts and all CMV pp65 antigen results. Results. Forty-seven patients met the inclusion criteria and 19 (40%) developed a CMV event: eight CMV infections, seven CMV syndromes, and 15 CMV diseases. The mean number of CMV events for each patient was 1.68 +/- 0.88. Twelve patients developed CMV events during prophylaxis (5/12 had CMV serology D+/R-). Forty-six of the 47 patients had at least one episode of acute rejection (mean 2.23 +/- 1.1). Median follow-up was 22 months (range = 3-50). There were seven deaths. Upon univariate analysis, CMV events were related to greater mortality (P = .04), especially if the patient experienced more than two events (P = .013) and if the first event occurred during the first 3 months after LT (P = .003). Nevertheless, a marginally significant relationship between CMV event during the first 3 months after LT and mortality was observed in the multivariate analysis (hazards ratio: 7.46; 95% confidence interval: 0.98-56.63; P = .052). Patients with CMV events more than 3 months post-LT showed the same survival as those who remained CMV-free. Conclusion. Prophylaxis and preemptive treatment are safe and effective; however, the patients who develop CMV events during prophylaxis experience a worse prognosis.

Comparison of three systems of classification in predicting the outcome of diabetic foot ulcers in a Brazilian population

Objective: The aim was to compare there ulcer classification systems as predictors of the outcome of diabetic foot ulcers; the Wagner, the University of Texas (UT) and the size (area, depth), sepsis, arteriopathy, denervation system (S(AD)SAD) systems in specialist clinic in Brazil. Methods: Ulcer area, depth, appearance, infection and associated ischaemia and neuropathy were recorded in a consecutive series of 94 subjects. A novel score, the S(AD)SAD score, was derived from the sum of individual items of the S(AD)SAD system, and was evaluated. Follow-up was for at least 6 months. The primary outcome measure was the incidence of healing. Results: Mean age was 57.6 years; 57 (60.6%) were made. Forty-eight ulcers (51.1%) healed without surgery; 11 (12.2%) subjects underwent minor amputation. Significant differences in terms of healing were observed for depth (P = 0.002), infection (P = 0.006) and denervation (P = 0.002) using the S(AD)SAD system, for UT grade (P = 0.002) and stage (P = 0.032) and for Wagner grades (P = 0.002). Ulcers with an S(AD)SAD score of <= 9 (total possible 15) were 7.6 times more likely to heal than scores >= 10 (P < 0.001). Conclusions: All three systems predicted ulcer outcome. The S(AD)SAD score of ulcer severity could represent a useful addition to routine clinical practice. The association between outcome and ulcer depth confirms earlier reports. The association with infection was stronger than that reported from the centres in Europe or North America. The very strong association with neuropathy has only previously been observed in Tanzania. Studies designed to compare the outcome in different countries should adopt systems of classification, which are valid for the populations studied.

Higgs pair production at the LHC in models with universal extra dimensions

In this Letter we study the process of gluon fusion into a pair of Higgs bosons in a model with one universal extra dimension. We find that the contributions from the extra top quark Kaluza-Klem excitations lead to a Higgs pair production cross section at the LHC that can be significantly altered compared to the Standard Model value for small values of the compactification scale. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Meningiomas and schwannomas: Molecular subgroup classification found by expression arrays

Microarray gene expression profiling is a high-throughput system used to identify differentially expressed genes and regulation patterns, and to discover new tumor markers. As the molecular pathogenesis of meningiomas and schwannomas, characterized by NF2 gene alterations, remains unclear and suitable molecular targets need to be identified, we used low density cDNA microarrays to establish expression patterns of 96 cancer-related genes on 23 schwannomas, 42 meningiomas and 3 normal cerebral meninges. We also performed a mutational analysis of the NF2 gene (PCR, dHPLC, Sequencing and MLPA), a search for 22q LOH and an analysis of gene silencing by promoter hypermethylation (MS-MLPA). Results showed a high frequency of NF2 gene mutations (40%), increased 22q LOH as aggressiveness increased, frequent losses and gains by MLPA in benign meningiomas, and gene expression silencing by hypermethylation. Array analysis showed decreased expression of 7 genes in meningiomas. Unsupervised analyses identified 2 molecular subgroups for both meningiomas and schwannomas showing 38 and 20 differentially expressed genes, respectively, and 19 genes differentially expressed between the two tumor types. These findings provide a molecular subgroup classification for meningiomas and schwannomas with possible implications for clinical practice.

Nomenclature for congenital and paediatric cardiac disease: Historical perspectives and The International Pediatric and Congenital Cardiac Code

Clinicians working in the field of congenital and paediatric cardiology have long felt the need for a common diagnostic and therapeutic nomenclature and coding system with which to classify patients of all ages with congenital and acquired cardiac disease. A cohesive and comprehensive system of nomenclature, suitable for setting a global standard for multicentric analysis of outcomes and stratification of risk, has only recently emerged, namely, The International Paediatric and Congenital Cardiac Code. This review, will give an historical perspective on the development of systems of nomenclature in general, and specifically with respect to the diagnosis and treatment of patients with paediatric and congenital cardiac disease. Finally, current and future efforts to merge such systems into the paperless environment of the electronic health or patient record on a global scale are briefly explored. On October 6, 2000, The International Nomenclature Committee for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease was established. In January, 2005, the International Nomenclature Committee was constituted in Canada as The International Society for Nomenclature of Paediatric and Congenital Heart Disease. This International Society now has three working groups. The Nomenclature Working Group developed The International Paediatric and Congenital Cardiac Code and will continue to maintain, expand, update, and preserve this International Code. It will also provide ready access to the International Code for the global paediatric and congenital cardiology and cardiac surgery communities, related disciplines, the healthcare industry, and governmental agencies, both electronically and in published form. The Definitions Working Group will write definitions for the terms in the International Paediatric and Congenital Cardiac Code, building on the previously published definitions from the Nomenclature Working Group. The Archiving Working Group, also known as The Congenital Heart Archiving Research Team, will link images and videos to the International Paediatric and Congenital Cardiac Code. The images and videos will be acquired from cardiac morphologic specimens and imaging modalities such as echocardiography, angiography, computerized axial tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, as well as intraoperative images and videos. Efforts are ongoing to expand the usage of The International Paediatric and Congenital Cardiac Code to other areas of global healthcare. Collaborative efforts are under-way involving the leadership of The International Nomenclature Committee for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease and the representatives of the steering group responsible for the creation of the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases, administered by the World Health Organisation. Similar collaborative efforts are underway involving the leadership of The International Nomenclature Committee for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease and the International Health Terminology Standards Development Organisation, who are the owners of the Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine or ""SNOMED"". The International Paediatric and Congenital Cardiac Code was created by specialists in the field to name and classify paediatric and congenital cardiac disease and its treatment. It is a comprehensive code that can be freely downloaded from the internet (http://www.IPCCC.net) and is already in use worldwide, particularly for international comparisons of outcomes. The goal of this effort is to create strategies for stratification of risk and to improve healthcare for the individual patient. The collaboration with the World Heath Organization, the International Health Terminology Standards Development Organisation, and the healthcare Industry, will lead to further enhancement of the International Code, and to Its more universal use.

Report from The International Society for Nomenclature of Paediatric and Congenital Heart Disease: cardiovascular catheterisation for congenital and paediatric cardiac disease (Part 1-Procedural nomenclature)

Interventional cardiology for paediatric and congenital cardiac disease is a relatively young and rapidly evolving field. As the profession begins to establish multi-institutional databases, a universal system of nomenclature is necessary for the field of interventional cardiology for paediatric and congenital cardiac disease. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of the efforts of The International Society for Nomenclature of Paediatric and Congenital Heart Disease to establish a system of nomenclature for cardiovascular catheterisation for congenital and paediatric cardiac disease, focusing both on procedural nomenclature and on the nomenclature of complications associated with interventional cardiology. This system of nomenclature for cardiovascular catheterisation for congenital and paediatric cardiac disease is a component of The International Paediatric and Congenital Cardiac Code. This manuscript is the first part of a two-part series. Part 1 will cover the procedural nomenclature associated with interventional cardiology as treatment for paediatric and congenital cardiac disease. This procedural nomenclature of The International Paediatric and Congenital Cardiac Code will be used in the IMPACT Registry (TM) (IMproving Pediatric and Adult Congenital Treatment) of the National Cardiovascular Data Registry (R) of The American College of Cardiology. Part 2 will cover the nomenclature of complications associated with interventional cardiology as treatment for paediatric and congenital cardiac disease.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of universal childhood vaccination against varicella in Brazil

This study conducts a cost-effectiveness analysis of a childhood universal varicella vaccination program in Brazil. An age and time-dependent dynamic model was developed to estimate the incidence of varicella for 30 years. Assuming a single-dose schedule; vaccine efficacy of 85% and coverage of 80%, the program could prevent 74,422,058 cases and 2905 deaths. It would cost R$ 3,178,396,110 and save R$ 660,076,410 to the society and R$ 365,602,305 to the healthcare system. The program is cost-effective (R$ 14,749 and R$ 16,582 per life-year saved under the societal and the healthcare system`s perspective, respectively). The program`s cost-effectiveness is highly sensitive to the vaccine price and number of doses. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Analysis of Apical Root Transportation Associated with Protaper Universal F3 and F4 Instruments by Using Digital Subtraction Radiography

Introduction: The aim of this study was to assess the occurrence of apical root transportation after the use of Pro Taper Universal rotary files sizes 3 (F3) and 4 (F4). Methods: Instruments were worked to the apex of the original canal, always by the same operator. Digital subtraction radiography images were produced in buccolingual and mesiodistal projections. A total of 25 radiographs were taken from root canals of human maxillary first molars with curvatures varying from 23-31 degrees. Quantitative data were analyzed by intraclass correlation coefficient and Wilcoxon nonparametric test (P = .05). Results: Buccolingual images revealed a significantly higher degree of apical transportation associated with F4 instruments when compared with F3 instruments in relation to the original canal (Wilcoxon test, P = .007). No significant difference was observed in mesiodistal images (P = .492). Conclusions: F3 instruments should be used with care in curved canals, and F4 instruments should be avoided in apical third preparation of curved canals. (J Endod 2010;36:1052-1055)